Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an electric valve device and in particular an electric valve which can be used in a device for forming ice in a fridge, comprising:                a hollow body with an inlet and an outlet for a flow of fluid, in particular a liquid, between which, inside said body, there is defined a chamber in which there is provided a valve seat intended to cooperate with an associated closing member for controlling communication between the inlet and the outlet; and        a tubular guiding formation which is nominally coaxial with the valve seat and inside which there is mounted, axially displaceably to and from said seat, a core which carries the closing member and the position of which with respect to the valve seat can be electromagnetically controlled by means of a winding or solenoid arranged around said tubular formation.        
Background
In order to control flows which characteristically have small flow-rates, electric valve devices which are normally used for medium/high flow-rates, for example in household appliances, are often used, suitably modified for operation at small flow-rates.
An example of such an electric valve assembly for the metered supply of cold water in a fridge is described and illustrated in Italian patent application TO2010A000506 in the name of the same Applicant.
These modified electric valve devices generally have relatively large valve chambers having, formed inside them, valve seats with a small diameter depending on the flow-rates envisaged. Such modified electric valve devices in general have dimensions which are unnecessarily large in relation to the requirements.
Moreover, in such electric valve devices the valve body is generally formed as two parts which are firmly connected together by means of a threaded union. The tubular guiding formation inside which the core carrying the closing member is mounted is generally made as one piece with one of these parts and, following assembly, may not be perfectly coaxial with the valve seat, with potential problems in terms of reliability of operation of the electric valve device as a whole.